Laduron begins second term in Thomaston
THOMASTON — Mayor Jeff Laduron took the oath of office Monday morning, signifying the official start to his second term at the head of Thomaston.
“I started working in Thomaston in 1979. I was doing the water and the streets and the gas and the police. I did that for a while. Then I left and I did law enforcement. I retired as police chief in Linden in 2007 and my home was in Thomaston. I was able to run for mayor. It has been just a thrill to get back in this,” Laduron said of his long history working with his hometown.
As his second term officially began, Laduron reflected on what was accomplished in Thomaston since he took office in 2008.
“The accomplishments, we’ve done a major water line improvement project that I inherited just as I took office four years ago. Currently, we’re now working on the second phase of that,” Laduron said. “We just got another $350,000 grant from ADECA, so we’re getting ready after the first of the year to start on replacing the majority of all of our cast iron. We were able to move into (the Thomaston Municipal Complex), which is about three times the size of our city hall building across the street. We were able to finish a walking trail around our lake. We got some streets paved.”
Immediately following the swearing in of Laduron, the town council proceeded with the first meeting of its new term. The council appointed W.L. Drake as the Mayor Pro Tem.
Other items covered in the meeting included the formal re-appointing of Bill Poole as town attorney, Donna Stokes as clerk and Heath McClure as police chief. The council also determined to keep city funds at Robertson Banking Company. The governing body also reappointed Laduron as superintendent of the water board.
Laduron said the key focus of the next four years will be on continued improvement of Thomaston’s infrastructure. Once the water project is completed, the council’s efforts will turn to paving the Thomaston’s streets.
“Some of the things I want to do, after I get this water line done, we’ll be working on grants to pave all our streets, pave our dirt streets that have never been paved before,” Laduron said. “We’re very excited. I appreciate the public. They’ve been great to us.”